Aimless
by Askari Knight
Summary: A young man and his warden are hurled from a nameless city into a world strange and unusual. Where are they now and where are they truly from? Is it a matter of when? And why? This is a journey of discovery.
1. Chapter 1

I walked briskly through the broad, vaulted corridors of Sakura Hall, the latest piece of architecture completed with the assistance of the Gem, a mighty artifact crafted during the Millenium Effort. Pink blossoms of an unknown species drifted slowly from the ceiling to the floor, a complex illusory effect sustained merely as an artistic venture.

Unlike the rest of our grand city's buildings, Sakura Hall had no tactical value at all. It was a symbol, a powerful reminder that we had achieved enough power that we no longer had to live in fear of illithid incursions, that we could live free of those who would otherwise ensnare our minds and excise our desire for freedom.

The air my uniform caught as I moved caused it to billow out, the edges snapping and cracking like a muted whip. Its dark green color indicated my status as a Collegiate graduate still undecided regarding my permanent occupation, the jade trim communicating by its hue and designs my rank as a Primary. Save for the Council members and those with more elaborate trim I was neither second nor before anyone else of my class, the ruling Primaries. It fastened snugly about my torso, held in place by a series of buttons beneath a pectoral flap and decorated with four circular buttons arranged at the corners of a square which held no other function than to display my family's silver crest, my own sigil of the same material, the emerald-studded heraldic sign of the city, and a copper representation of my political affiliation. The latter was generally accepted as an affectation for social standing, as we were not governed as a democracy. In some situations, however, I could be called upon to assist in endeavors members of my affiliation were engaged in, as I was now.

I noted with a critical eye the pink blossoms disappearing into the ground, and floating around me as if they were carried on the air currents displaced by my movements. It was a thoughtful touch to the artistry, but I had to wonder at the strain it could be placing on the Gem. The details of its creation were not known to me – nor to anyone else – so I lacked the intimate knowledge of the Gem's workings that would provide me with fodder for an educated deduction.

I knew – as did every other citizen – the Gem's makers had given their lives in creating it, and that it was their final creation of their thousand years of crafting. It drove the city, its defenses and amenities. Some citizens believed us becoming too dependent on it, relying on its power too much to survive were it ever to shatter.

Being as Sakura Hall was a recent construction – two months open to the public – citizens of the Primary and Secondary classes and their psionic companions still flooded to enjoy its illusory effects and historical architecture.

Most of the city's buildings lacked any edges and were composed only of one softly curving material, though I'd heard tales of the Tertiary class' housing being constructed of multiple pieces of material, of the floors and walls requiring different kinds for their construction. Sakura Hall was supposed to mimic it as part of the shared heritage with the Tertiary…crudely known as the mindblind.

Secondaries I passed near bowed deferentially…if not truly respectfully, though their companions watched me carefully. A citizen's was determined by their abilities and birth, the two ordinarily intertwined. Those whose birth placed them within a Primary family yet whose abilities were too weak to allow them access to the privileges accorded that rank were considered members of a middle area between Secondary and Primary. Their birth granted the right to order Secondaries about – a reprehensible societal mechanism that should only be engaged in times of war – but such commands could be countermanded or superceded by any true Primary, and the cross-rank individual had to accept any command given voice by a Primary.

Fortunately, such situations were rare due to the nature of Primaries to pass the gift fully. Much more common were families of Secondaries breeding a member whose strong gift marked him or her for entry into the Primary class. Such occasions were joyous events, as it conferred upon the entire family of that new Primary the middle rank between its previous and its child's.

The saddest event was when a mindblind individual was born into a family, as had been a cousin of mine. My uncle and aunt tried for years to coax any latent gift out of quiescence, but Thaddis was truly ungifted. It was fortunate that some quirk of breeding had managed to create in him an anti-psionic trait; a very useful quality when a people's primary enemies are telepathic creatures. Had Thaddis not possessed the talent – or curse – of being so dangerous to the gifted, he would have been immediately relegated to the Tertiary class and would have quickly been forgotten save in situations where tempers flared and unwarranted rudeness arose. Instead, he stood between Secondary and Tertiary, though with much less command of the latter. Individuals in such positions were accorded respect due the risk inherent in their responsibilities.

I responded to the deferential bows with a respectful nod and what I hoped was a friendly smile. The difference in class occasionally threw a shade-altering lens between our relations, and what we might think of as respectful could instead be viewed as belittling or patronizing regardless of our intent. Some Secondaries revealed surprised expressions from my smile – at times pleasantly so – while others looked away to avoid causing mishap with a caustic glare, and I passed by too quickly to see their reactions moments later.

I did, however, notice the telepathic conversations of some Secondaries I neared become more subdued. If it had been my desire, I could have easily eavesdropped on any such conversation within visual range – a gift bestowed upon Primaries by the Gem.

Our city was lenient in some ways: the spoken word bears next to no weight save amongst the Tertiaries and their dealings with us. In other ways it was exceptionally strict: thought, deed and expression were the measure of one's intent and a poorly controlled face could send someone to be…reprogrammed. The death penalty was an end which resulted in wasted resources, a fact that led to its excision from the city's body of law several hundred years ago.

I bore the averted faces with grace and patience, aware that what they felt for me was based on the generalizing of Primary qualities, the most recognizable of which were the negative. When a Primary did something bad, it reflected badly on the class as a whole. Retributive action was often swift, but the damage would already have been done.

At least our citizens were free to have opinions and feel enmity. The enslaved were…well, they were just this side of mindless. We rescued them when we could, but oftentimes the enslaved were born into captivity, and all they knew or wanted was their place. It didn't matter that that desire was implanted by their illithid owners, though there was a minority who – upon regaining their free will – chose to wholly embrace a life in which they had choices and decisions more complex than "Did Master want this rock put over here or over there?" One of the former group of the enslaved served as my body servant and an ongoing experiment in attempting to restore the spark of will the illithids had quenched. I refused to call him by any name or title until he chose a name for himself, a matter which had caused my parents some consternation, since as long as I considered him an experiment and did no harm to either him or the city they could not interfere in any way against my wishes.

They solved this by completely ignoring the freed slave, and occasionally I thought I felt flashes of irritation and frustration from him when confronted with a situation in which he had to interact with my parents. My commands were often phrased to cause him to engage one parent or the other on a minor matter, the reasoning being that such flashes of emotion were signs of an emerging free will and necessary for forcing it to the surface. I could have simply asked for his mind to be overwritten and reprogrammed, but I needed to know such poor souls could be saved without resort to such extreme techniques.

"_Thinking__hard__again?__"_ The question was sudden, an intrusion on an otherwise peaceful march. My psicrystal – a piece of crystal imbued with a duplicated fragment of my personality – stirred from its position at the nape of my neck, where it had been hiding in my hair. It was no larger than my fist, and resembled nothing so much as a teardrop sapphire, what was typically referred to amongst jewel-cutters as a "pear."

"_As__usual,__"_ I replied in kind, passing a young female Primary and her tempestan – an elemental from the Plane of Air – dancing through the illusory blossoms. It was nice to see such an activity. It represented peace. _"__What__else__would__you__expect__of__me?__"_

"_Of course. I merely meant to caution about broadcasting. You have been…leaking."_

"_That__'__s__twice__today,__"_ I mused, resuming my fast pace. _"__Perhaps__I__'__m__coming__down__with__a__fever.__"_

My psicrystal reached a stretchy, ectoplasmic limb – one of dozens – to touch my brow, but withdrew it after a moment. _"__You__don__'__t__have__a__fever,__but__shall__I__fetch__a__Medi__for__ascertainment?__"_

"_Thank you, but I'll be fine. I'm merely thinking on matters outside my duty and purview."_

"_Forgiveness for my impertinence, but there is more to your life than duty. Even your mother has asked that you indulge in idle speculation."_

We had arrived at a Portal, which led to anywhere in the city that likewise possessed a Portal. One needed only think of a destination while stepping through…or, in the case of the mindblind, to speak a destination in the moment prior. Since Tertiaries were restricted in where they could freely go, they rarely used the Portals unless accompanied by a Secondary or Primary, and so spoken destinations were uncommon.

The Portal of Sakura Hall stood upon a dais in the approximate center of the area, and the Hall blossomed away from it. It was constructed of a material I lacked the rank to know, though it shimmered like mother of pearl. Two great rings joined perpendicular to each other, and appeared to have sunk into the dais a couple feet.

As I stepped between them I laid a reaffirming hand on my psicrystal. Travel by Portal was unforgiving to those with envoys or psycrystals. There was a brief moment in which we were…elsewhere. Such separation was painful on many levels for both parties, and it was a pain we were each made to feel when we first acquired a companion. I'd first felt it on my seventeenth birthing day, when I'd generated my psicrystal.

That was several years ago, and I hadn't made a mistake in this matter since.

Maintaining physical contact as I was would take a pair through simultaneously, and all that remained was to visualize my destination.

Reacting to my mental image, the hoops of the ring flared white, and I felt a sickening lurch in my stomach as we passed through a place without gravity. I blinked away spots as I regained my bearings, automatically moving off the Portal's dais as all citizens were instructed upon their arrival to the city. Perhaps due to my absent-mindedness I forgot one of the most important things about traveling this way in comfort: shut one's eyes.

My vision cleared after a moment, but I closed them again anyway, bowing my head in respect for the Gem, whose visibility from the Portal indicated the degree of awareness of the city. Though I'd never been taught why, I had my suspicions. Our laws dictated that the first glimpse of the Gem in a day required a bow and a moment of contemplation and thankfulness for the efforts of those who had made it. On some days the haze in this room was so deep that it was possible for one to get lost when turning around, and to be unable to see the glow of the Gem from any more than a dozen feet away. Those were also the days when the city was at its quietest, when the most were sleeping. We are all part of the Gem…or it is part of us. It draws power from us, and we in turn gain strength from it and what it represents. It's a cycle that grows ever more powerful with each passing day.

Although I'd already greeted the Gem earlier, I did so again now, extending a tendril of my will towards it. Such was its power that I needed no physical contact in order to address it…nor could I actually touch it without abilities stronger than what I possessed now. The Gem hung without support in a deep, well-like chasm, a spire of finely cut gemstone several feet in diameter and illuminated from within by a pure white light. It rose up and came to a point exactly seven feet above the ground. Its chasm spread out further, a good twenty feet in diameter, and terminated at a depth of four hundred thirty-eight feet and six-point-four inches. The Gem continued on down to the place in the planet where rock begins to melt, though since my interests are not sub-terrestrial I knew not the name of that place. This was information all citizens were taught, being as it was all we really knew for certain about the Gem. Attempts to discern its inner workings were rebuffed with a sensation of being mocked, and attempts to actually speak with it were frustrating endeavors in futility. The Gem seemed at times to have the personality of a cruel trickster, but it was probably just a defense mechanism built into it to frustrate and infuriate any illithid who managed to get into the city and attempt to address or damage it.

I sensed the Gem's acceptance of my greeting, and withdrew my will before continuing on my way, though my haste was subdued by the nearness of my destination. The Portal I had arrived on stood at the end of a short hall, a sort of stunted spoke off the hub of the Gem's circular area. A lip supported by Grecian columns bordered the space, and beyond was a clear dome of reinforced crystal that allowed us to see the sky clearly and could be made darker in the uncommon event of a cloudless sky.

The Portal terminus I'd chosen was literally around the bend from Medi Sector, our treatment area. Injuries were uncommon with the precautions we took, but they did happen…and warriors got hurt out on the field. They were taken care of in short order and recovery time was measured in minutes, as the nearness of the Gem supplemented and enhanced our gifts. Rather than draw upon our own energy, we could call on our links to the Gem to draw upon its energy, and even manifest our powers at greater strength.

The telepathic babble in Medi Sector alerted me to a more uncommon emergency, and as I stepped through the broad doors and was drawn into the room's mindlink within I found out why. The illithids had ambushed several of our patrols simultaneously, and both the litany of injuries and the body count were high. It was evidence of its import that I hadn't been briefed on my way here, being as I was not the only Primary in the city…another who lacked discretion could eavesdrop on the conversation and within minutes the greater portion of the city would know.

The ranking Medi was a blunt Tertiary named Aphodrys, and the woman was frightening when her temper was roused. She worked at one of the operating tables, removing bits and pieces of debris – rock, crystal, weapon shards, etc – from her charges before having her assistant heal the wounds and another two or three bring the next forth. From the set of her shoulders she was ready to call righteous fury down on someone or something, so I set to work quietly and quickly with a mute Tertiary – identified by the red slash on his uniform's collar – assisting me as a fetch. In this, nobody of the half-dozen supplemental Medi-techs countermanded my choice, and Aphodrys herself spared only a fleeting glance in my direction and to give me a confirmative nod. Medi Sector was her domain, and not even the Council could countermand her orders where medical attention was required.

Each injury I saw to was categorized by whether it required surgery and whether it was critical or superficial. Wounds requiring surgery were those Aphodrys was taking care of and so I simply marked each patient needing her attention unless the patient was at the brink of death. Those latter I touched a hand to the area around their most serious wounds and channeled a bit of energy from the Plane of Positive Energy. Not the most fancy of terms for a place whose entirety is burgeoning with energy that encourages growth…in small doses. Were anyone unprotected against the plane's nature to be transported there they would be almost instantly incinerated by the primal forces. My patients' wounds healed enough to staunch the bleeding, though if they moved too quickly they would easily be reopened. My task was stabilization.

Once I made that first cycle through the room I began anew, this time going over each of those possessing non-threatening injuries and restoring them to full health. Every one I thus healed then received a direct and implicit order to rest near my psicrystal, which had moved down my back and out of the room at my silent behest. Being as they were all Tertiary or Secondary they couldn't ignore my order, but I told my psicrystal to watch faces closely, and alert me immediately of anyone attempting to flee. Sometimes the illithids attempted to sneak an operative in through the ranks of the wounded.

We tried to be thorough.

The emergency was quickly and efficiently resolved as the other temporary Medi-techs drawing inspiration from me and using their gifts to restore health or ease the pain of their wards. Most had to go about it in a roundabout way, first transferring the wounds of their patient to themselves, then healing it that way, but there were a few who could do as I could and channeled positive energy to eliminate as many patients as possible.

Eventually the Sector was cleared of those with minor injuries, and all those were waiting under the watchful "eye" of my psicrystal. We temporary Medi-techs tended the wounded, either offering support and comfort with our simple presence or carefully preparing the worst cases for surgery. One of the Medi-techs – a Shaper – used an ectoplasmic servitor to transport the bodies into the back room while we did our best to divert our patients' attention from the necessary activity.

The body count was low, fortunately, and I took a moment from my chore to survey the room. What had begun as hectic and panicked telepathic babbling and moaning – on top of the physical moans of pain – was subsiding into a low chatter as the other Medi-techs communed and shared notes. What one knew, the others might not necessarily as well, so they spoke and increased their effective efficiency. Aphrodys gave her own commands as well…when she bothered to look up from her task or was asked a question. Most of her responses were spoken, though if she needed to get a point across she would take a moment to clearly broadcast her thoughts. Such was Medi Sector's imbuement that virtually anyone – even the mindblind Tertiaries – could speak mind-to-mind, contingent upon their presence within its confines.

My attention was called back to my current patient when he grabbed my arm in a vice-like grip, and his jumbled thoughts were a cacophony of disparate words and phrases. It was like he'd taken the entirety of his vocabulary, stirred it up and was trying to pour it into me. Gently, I extricated myself from his grip as I built up a barrier against the torrent of words. His expression twisted into one of frustration as he cracked his mouth open and whispered a hoarse word, renewing his grasp.

"War."

Though I wasn't unfamiliar with the primary spoken language, it took me a moment to track down the meaning of the word. The only time Primaries and Secondaries spoke aloud were before the age of four and when dealing with Tertiaries outside of areas like Medi Sector. I'd spent nearly twenty years communicating almost exclusively by mind, save for my elective lessons in extraplanar languages, and telepathic speech is less dependent on words than it is on the intent and emotion behind those words.

Once I found the definition – such a weak thing on its own – I frowned, sending, _"__We__are__at__war__with__the__illithids,__yes.__"_

"N-no," the warrior licked his lips, and I lifted a glass of water to them, allowing him to drink. "Else…something other. It comes…illithids fear."

"_What__…__?__"_ I met the man's gaze, noting the almost panicked look in his eyes before making a decision. Doing something I felt I'd never have to do, I sank into a half-trance and stretched out a tendril of will to a matrix supported by the Gem, following my connection closely to the place where it met a collective. Sorting through the threads, I found one leading towards one of the Council members. It didn't matter who…they were almost always in constant contact with one another, so one was as good as any other.

The sensation I sent along that thread was like a polite knock on a door. I could have barged in and began speaking, but the Councilor would have had difficulty sorting out my words and I would've needed to repeat myself.

"_Yes__…__?__"_ The word was rife with intent and curiosity that carried with it meaning on its own. Rather than take the time to speaking my name, I simply sent her the image of my sigil and my family's crest, and gave an abridged version of what I knew. Granted, it wasn't much, but it should be enough to get the Council moving on determining what the illithids feared. It was probably a contributing factor in the low body count of this emergency. For a long time the Councilor was silent and I feared I'd lost the connection somehow, but then the older woman responded with _"__We__'__ll__look__into__it__immediately.__We__may__have__allies.__"_

The connection broke and I withdrew, returning my attention to my patient. I nodded to indicate others knew, and the warrior sighed fitfully, relaxing significantly. It was only when it came his turn for surgery that I realized he'd relaxed too much, was too limp.

I felt sad, certainly, and framed a prayer for his psyche's safe journey to his ultimate destination. We were raised to feel our emotions, but not to be used by them. I felt grief at the loss of a loyal citizen, and pride that he had died for his duty to the people of our city, yet that did not mean my life could not continue. This man's psyche…or his soul –perhaps the two were interchangeable – would not suffer in the hereafter, and the remainder of his existence would pass however he wished. This was merely the loss of a corporeal form, a transition by death into a different reality.

As I straightened to arrange the warrior's hands into a position of repose I felt something press against the palm of my hand, and extricated it from the corpse's extremity. It was a yellow crystal shard about the same size as the last joint of my middle finger, glowing ever so faintly. It was rough-hewn, but the angles were too precise for it to have just been chipped out of a vein…though the glow was a bit of a giveaway. My eyes narrowed to slits as I sought to understand the stone, a matter requiring of anyone no more than a few moments of focus.

The stone contained a couple powers of minimum complexity, both of which I possessed as part of my repertoire…so this warrior could not possibly have been a Secondary. I moved his arms out of the way and began checking all about his person for his insignia. A patrolman would have removed them while out on duty, storing them in a pouch or pocket somewhere. I needed to find out who this man had been, inform his family of his death. Duty required it. Courtesy commanded it.

My quick search spilled his belt-pouch and revealed many more power stones, though I decided to attune to them later, when I had a couple minutes. I added them to my own pouch to analyze further at a later date and continued rifling through his clothes. One of the other Medi-techs noted what I was doing and sent a wordless query to me.

"_I__'__m__searching__for__his__insignia,__"_ I answered, a little impatiently. The Medi-tech was a Secondary, and thus I needn't have felt beholden to answering…but my upbringing was very strict about answering questions in this sort of situation.

Then again, neither of my parents had foreseen me pawing through the clothing of a dead Primary in search of the symbols of his family.

"_This__one__is__a__Primary.__"_ I felt a sense of surprise from the Secondary and understood where she was coming from. The man I'd tended had not been dressed as a Primary, was almost indistinguishable from one of her class. There was always the possibility that the warrior was a Secondary and had picked up the power stones from a fallen Primary, but the odds were low. Patrols took whatever Primaries wished to accompany them, and it was not in the nature of my rank to be seen as lowering oneself to such menial and mundane chores. It made my bile rise each time I witnessed such selfish behavior, but I was not powerful enough to do anything about it, and dying from a decision to accompany patrols myself was not a very wise thing to do. _"__I__am__relatively__certain__that__you__would__do__the__same__should__the__need__arise.__"_

"_As__you__say,__Lord__Primary.__"_ The Secondary's words were colored with shame and anger, though the connection was broken before I could query as to what the latter regarded…not that I needed to. Any being would feel indignant at being made to feel foolish, but this situation with the dead warrior was making me feel snappish.

At last I managed to find the man's insignia – hidden in a pouch beneath his shirt and above his right buttock…clever – and had to stare at the device for several moments before it finally got through. I didn't want to believe that this man was who this device claimed he was, but…

Reaching once more into the Gem-supported matrix, I followed the exact same path as I had in order to arrive at the same Counselor. Once again I observed the same protocols and awaited her query. Her feeling was tinged with significant impatience, but it evaporated when I sent her a mental image of the dead warrior's face, accompanied by his insignia.

All was silent for nearly a minute, and when the Counselor returned her attention to me I received the impression that she took a deep breath before speaking to me once again.

"_Tell__me__…__what__did__he__speak__of?__"_ The Counselor's "voice" was filled with grief and sorrow far beyond what should have been present. Had he been a son or brother? A lover?

"_It__was__he__that__delivered__unto__me__with__his__final__words__the__knowledge__that__something__comes__which__illithids__fear.__He__didn__'__t__speak__of__aught__else,__but__I__comforted__him__as__best__I__could__with__what__knowledge__I__possess.__"_ There was a moment of silence again, though I quickly grew too uncomfortable to allow it to stretch, and spoke again. _"__Milady__Counselor?__He__died__in__his__duty__to__the__good__of__the__city.__In__the__hereafter__he__shall__be__visited__with__paradise.__"_

"_Know__you__this__for__certainty?__"_ The Counselor spoke hastily, and I let my head sag slightly.

"_No,__I__do__not.__But__I__believe__so.__"_ There were two concepts held dearly in our city: belief and knowing. Knowledge was the presence of empirical evidence, while belief was intuitive evidence. It was a matter of course that our abilities stemmed from an admixture of both. The result of our abilities was present in every aspect of our lives, though there were no physical differences between our brains and that of a Tertiary. We didn't believe there were, but we believed we could do what we could. It was a complex concept that very nearly defied words, but as those two concepts defined virtually every part of our city from present on back to its inception – belief that we would be free of illithid tyranny and years of slowly mounting proof that we would – it held a very dear place in all our hearts. I could sense the Counselor relaxing, despite whatever difference we were from each other, and I waited until she spoke.

"_I__thank__you,__Liam__Faren__of__House__Daerlin.__Your__words__mean__much__to__me,__and__they__give__hope__when__I__would__have__drowned.__The__wisdom__of__your__House__is__not__understated.__"_ There was a hesitant silence before she continued, the link becoming significantly more tenuous. _"__I__…__am__Ferina__Luxidre.__You__may__keep__whatever__my__brother__had__on__his__person__in__the__way__of__power__stones.__I__'__m__assured__he__took__several__with__him.__Once__more,__I__thank__you.__May__the__Gem__forever__guide__your__thoughts__home.__"_

The connection broke, but I stood frozen, like some statue of a Primary. It wasn't the gift of the power stones, though I was free to have taken them anyway unless she specifically asked for them back. It was that she'd given me her name. There was neither rhyme nor reason to it that I could fathom…

Members of the city weren't made aware of who sat on the Council, or at least not very often. It was a matter of personal safety for the majority of them, and some preferred to be capable of walking down a boulevard without it being prettied up just for them. In my opinion it was a good way to govern realistically, but other citizens looked on their secrecy with suspicion in spite of having grown up with such a tradition. To be trusted with such a secret was…heady. But I could find no logical sense to it, and that worried me.

_I__would__say__that__she__'__s__nervous__…__so__the__Council__'__s__discussion__may__not__be__going__well._ I closed my eyes a moment and steadied my nerves. The Council ordinarily made wise decisions, but occasionally it stalled for a lack of intelligence. Therefore this delay may be caused by investigative measures being taken.

After washing my hands clean of blood I asked Aphrodys if she required anything else, but she shook her head, saying, "No, thank you. You have saved lives today."

"_You__are__welcome.__"_ I gave her a respectful bow, sent Ferina's brother's body one last look and left to deal with the recently healed patrolmen.

My psicrystal had been clinging to the wall just above the group, but as it sensed me coming nearer it climbed down like a spider with three or four times as many legs as necessary and crawled up my leg to take its customer spot at the nape of my neck. One of one of the warriors who'd stood at attention a respectful distance away followed after, a familiar red-head taller than me who kept his gaze carefully below my chin. As my bodyguard he had permission to look me in the eye, but the unusual deference indicated a larger problem.

I didn't delay in my questioning.

It helped that I knew him.

"_Alex__Moreydor,__explain__what__has__happened.__"_ The warrior was technically my bodyguard, but we had little need of such within the city. Therefore he accompanied the occasional patrol when circumstances allowed, and I saw no reason to deny him that. He wanted the exercise, anyway.

"_Sir,__it__was__…__something.__I__'__m__not__entirely__sure__what__it__was.__" _Alex was genuinely confused, the feeling communicating itself very clearly via the telepathic link. _"__One__moment__we__were__stalking__the__edge__of__Kerosfall,__and__in__the__next__half__of__us__were__unconscious__with__massive__injuries.__"_ His words brought with them an image of the massive waterfall whose purple waters plunged into a bowl rimmed with gnarled, petrified trees and tiny rivulets which swelled into one immense river some years, after the winter thaw. Accompanying the geographic visual was another, though it was a confused jumble of colors and sounds. Occasionally it would appear to clear, but then it would return to the chaotic kaleidoscope.

"_Could you have been struck by an illithid attack?"_

"_And__have__them__leave__our__bodies?__Our__brains?__"_ Even couched in a respectful form, I could sense Alex's wry amusement.

"_Of__course,__"_ I inclined my head slightly, a smile ghosting across my lips. It was as close to an apology as Alex would get in public…as close to one he could get.

"_The__sensation__was__entirely__different__as__well,__"_ Alex continued, pressing a few fingers against his temple. _"__This__was__something__new.__And__memory__fails__pertaining__to__how__exactly__it__felt.__All__I__can__recall__is__that__it__felt__different__…__more__primal.__"_

"_Like__a__cannon__in__place__of__a__scalpel,__"_ I mused, then stepped forward, brushing past Alex to question the grouped patrolmen. One by one it was verified that what Alex had said was correct and common to each of them. One of the greatest benefits of speaking mind-to-mind was the ineffectiveness of lies. One could lie, certainly, but the emotions in the voice would betray that lie, and the individual's own guilt would transfer imagery or sensations informing the truth of the subject in question.

I was on the verge of reaching out for a third time to the Counselors when frantic movement near the north end of the Gem Hall caught my attention. It took me a few moments to process what I was seeing, but by then Alex had tackled me to the floor. A shockingly large, razor sharp lance of crystal flew through the air where I'd been an instant before. It plunged half its four-foot length into the wall at the end of the hall, sending shards of construction material spraying through the air, and once it had rested there a moment it began to dissolve into a steaming cloud that vanished quickly.

_Ectoplasm,_ I thought dimly, still struggling to get my thoughts in order.

"_Come__on!__"_ Alex snapped, the anger in his voice cutting through my stupor like a razor. _"__We__have__to__get__out__of__here!__"_

"_Reserves,__"_ I murmured, reaching a hand into the pouch I'd liberated from Luxidre's brother. Perhaps there was one I could use.

My fingers closed around one, and my eyes narrowed to sleepy slits as I addressed it, getting a feel for its creator's style with this particular stone.

_That__'__ll__do.__ "__Wait.__"_ I stood up, Alex lessening his pull on my free hand. Clenching the crystal in my fist, I stared at the attackers. They looked like humans, but their flesh seemed to be half-rotted, and in places bone showed through flesh. _"__Undead?__That__makes__no__sense__…__the__creation__of__the__undead__is__a__forbidden__practice,__and__all__knowledge__of__it__is__excised__from__deserters__when__they__are__caught__and__released__…"_

"_Tell__them__that,__"_ Alex renewed his pull, and I stumbled after him a few feet before I got my balance back. Tightening my grip on the power stone, I pointed my index finger at the mass of undead. Before I could activate it, though, one of the entities hurled another crystal spear at me, manifesting it out of thin air. My bodyguard tripped me rather than allow it to strike me, but caught a glancing blow from it as it plowed past and into the wall, spraying more material our way.

"_Undead__that__use__psionics?__"_ I didn't bother getting to my feet this time, instead hurling my will to survive into the activation sequence of the power stone. It flared brilliantly, and deep within the teeming mass a ball of fire erupted, catching many of the walking corpses in its lethal radius. Other Primaries – many more powerful than I and in no need of imprinted stones to wield powers beyond their ken – in the area caught on and soon that end of the Gem Hall was a hellish inferno of constant flames.

Alex stopped pulling, and we paused a moment for the fire to die down. A few bodies still smoldered, but they no longer moved.

That wasn't what held our attention, though. In the middle of the mass of re-killed corpses stood a man dressed in clothing I'd never seen the like of. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of faded blue pants, and a red-green plaid shirt hung untucked from narrow shoulders. His approximate age was impossible to determine, though at a casual glance he could've been anywhere from twenty to forty.

The man brushed back loose bangs and stared sleepily at the nearest Primary, who evidently decided she'd seen enough. Electricity danced between her fingers a bare moment before a bolt lanced out to strike the stranger. It struck and splayed out against an invisible barrier a few feet away from the newcomer, who waited patiently until the electricity faded. He snapped his fingers, and the attacking Primary turned to quartz in an instant, with no time to react.

Almost as though he knew exactly where everybody was, he unerringly faced the next-nearest citizen and began walking slowly toward them.

Incidentally allowing me to determine that yes, he was barefoot.

Alex didn't bother waiting around for the next crystallization, putting his full strength into dragging me to the Portal. I was still somewhat stunned at how easily the intruder seemed to be resisting what other citizens were throwing at him.

We managed to step onto the platform just as the intruder glanced at the Gem. I felt its power drain away in an instant, leaving a dull crystal structure. It toppled to the side and started to sink, but began rising. Air rushed up through the Gem's chasm, and the increased air pressure shattered the roof. Shards of its material fell and crushed or slashed the citizens of our City, but the stranger merely walked on without concern while the pieces bounced off his unseen shield.

The Gem continued to rise, and the air temperature in the Hall began to do the same. Alex took the initiative and signaled for the Portal to activate. His goal was a little unclear, though.

"_Anywhere but here!"_

The Portal began to flare and Alex grabbed me in a tight embrace that would ordinarily have been unseemly, and I dimly sensed him willing us away.

In the moment before we vanished, I heard a sound that dashed my hope: the Gem, shattering.

A flash of bright light blinded me, before I was plunged into darkness.

I…drifted. There's no other word for it. It was like sleeping, but possessed of a vague awareness of the passage of time. The span was an eternity of nothingness in which I felt nothing but an oddly peaceful weightlessness. Like sleep, I dreamt occasionally…half-remembered images of screaming, of a city trembling and streets flooded with the living dead and one ageless face calmly tearing people apart.

It came to me that I should be worried about something. The problem was I couldn't remember what, nor did I particularly want to. I was drifting away from something…I had to go back.

_Where…?_

My grip tightened on…something, and a pair of arms encircling my shoulders tightened back. Reality hiccupped, and an oscillating green light pierced my tightly clenched eyelids. As existence rushed back into place around us, so too did it rush up within my mind. It was like waking up all at once, and it took me a minute to order my thoughts.

It seemed like Alex was going through the same ordeal as we clung to each other while our minds cleared.

"_What__is__this__place?__"_ my psicrystal asked, crawling down from my neck. We stood underneath a freestanding arch, time-darkened and weathered. A chill breeze – something I had rarely encountered – swept through the room. It was cylindrical, though as I turned about I spied three broad corridors with vaulted ceilings. The ages had taken their toll on the architecture, however: parts of the ceiling were missing, revealing an incredibly bright night. Tiny pinpoints of light studded the sky, and it took me a moment before I realized what they were.

Stars.

For the first time in my life, I was seeing stars, as it was before the illithids extinguished them in the eons preceding the Millienium Effort.

"_Beautiful,__"_ I mused, for a moment freed of my worries about the city and its citizens. Then it came back and my first instinct was to search for any undead still present…but logic dominated my instinct and I calmed, realizing that if there were stars here, the undead would not be present. But that meant we were not in our world anymore.

Alex had quickly checked each of the three halls, leaving me free to examine the arch. It was reminiscent of the Portal in Sakura Hall, though the shape was off by being pentagonal and there were three blackened crystals set into each of the three above-ground vertices. The color was fairly accurate, but I only determined that after using my sleeve to wipe off some of the accumulated dirt. There was one major difference, though: Sakura Hall was open and expansive, its vaulted ceiling held up by Grecian columns, yet this one – despite the similarity in height between the two – was a narrower room, and the three halls appeared to have much lower ceilings. Apart from the vague resemblance to Sakura Hall, this Portal appeared nothing like any of the other Portals within the city…and I knew them all.

I brought myself up short, checked where my mind was running. I was trying to link this place and the city together as some form of…of absolution, as a way to come to terms with being so far from home.

It hadn't been so obvious to me how accustomed I'd become to being linked to the Gem when I had been, how comforting it was to hear other citizens, even if only as a barely audible hum. This world…it was silent! Dead! I began to feel claustrophobic and stumbled my way to Alex, who turned at my unusually loud approach. Without finesse I crashed into him and clung for all I was worth. His wordless query was answered by my feelings of overwhelming loneliness, and in response he simply held me, projecting random trains of thought in an effort to mimic the constant communication in the City.

One thing was constant in Alex's mass of thoughts. In the darkness of that first night in this new world, he assured me that he would never leave me alone.


	2. Chapter 2

The tiny cooking fire he'd made to fry a bit of venison from his day's successful hunt cast dancing shadows over the grove. Though his head was tilted forward and his expression seemed to infer he was completely consumed with the task at hand, he never let his companions sitting across the fire from him out of his sight for long.

The half-elf wasn't particularly tall, but he was gaunt, with hollow cheeks and a pale complexion that gave him very nearly the visage of a ghoul. His blood-red robes – which the mutt was adamant were nothing but wine-colored – hung from bony shoulders and slender limbs that belied astonishing strength. A stiff wind could've knocked him down.

Just off to the side were a brother and sister, huddled together despite the warmth of the late summer night. They'd been like that every night of this expedition, though it had taken David some time to realize why: this was their first time out of the city, and the vast, powerful wilderness frightened them. In the day it wasn't so bad, but at night all their secret terrors rose to the forefront.

The sister – Genevieve – was a pretty, petite thing, smaller in build even than the half-elf. She wore a sensible royal blue dress and powder blue blouse that really weren't particularly sensible for traipsing about in the wild. After the first day of stumbling and complaining of dirt in her shoes, David made her wear a pair of Riko's sturdy boots, layered with extra socks to make them fit snugly. She'd grumbled about how they were aesthetically displeasing, but not very loudly nor for long.

For Riko's part, he hadn't complained, though he had directed a scornful look at the woman.

The brother – Eric Ramothos "the Third," as he had introduced himself at the time – was much better prepared, though only because he'd asked David what was required. Evidently, he hadn't communicated the same to his sister. He was only a little taller than the half-elf, but his muscle made him at least twice as heavy, if not more. Throughout the entire expedition he'd refused to remove his armor for anything other than bathing and sleeping, which – while wise for a dangerous area – made for a rather suspicious countenance.

The siblings shared the same features, though: dark blond hair, pale blue eyes, and square bone structures.

Sitting with his back to a tree, apparently dozing, was a human male a few years David's junior, perhaps no older than his mid-teens. Something crawled about underneath the lad's tunic, and a bat stuck her head out. She chirruped and crawled out enough to take flight, revealing a somewhat quilted appearance. Patches of fur looked like they'd been transplanted from different species, but the boy had laughed when David pointed it out. He claimed that the bat's coloration was a combination of mutation and his own personalization of the creature. It was much like the bird.

David spat into the fire, causing a hiss and a pop as his saliva instantly evaporated. His companion looked up at him in curiosity, though after a moment of his master not saying anything the wolf Dirian put his head back down and went back to paying attention to the borders of the camp. David's attention was drawn when the half-elf – Riko Knight – idly scratched at his familiar's head. A beautiful specimen of a red-tailed hawk, a normal animal of its kind would have started and flown off even despite the darkness.

"So when do you suppose the meat will be finished?" Riko asked, turning his nails to some of the hard-to-scratch places of his hawk.

"In a few minutes," David replied, using a flat wooden spoon to flip the meat over. It sizzled loudly for a few seconds before settling. He watched as Riko took up a small, covered bowl from the edge of the fire with slender hands unconcerned with the heat it had absorbed.

The half-elf placed the lid off to the side and began feeding his hawk chunks of bloody, warmed meat. His bird daintily took each piece and held it long enough for Riko to withdraw his fingers, then tossed its head back and swallowed the morsel. This process was repeated until the bird had cleaned out the dish and puffed out its feathers, and by then the venison was finished.

Early in this journey David had learned that Riko had a small appetite, so rather than waste good meat preparing equal portions, he simply cooked a larger chunk for himself and divided it as necessary. Though Riko had said nothing about the change in menu, the druid assumed the half-elf was thankful…or at least not opposed to the change.

"How much longer will it take you to lead us to the site?"

"We can be there early tomorrow morning," David answered. "We would have been there this afternoon had you not insisted on stopping every time you thought you saw an ancient monument."

"The majority of trees in this forest bear a striking resemblance to stone pillars carved with runes of an arcane civilization from long ago. I cannot help that."

"No, but one would think you would have realized stone pillars do not sprout branches nor roots, and regardless of how long the forces of nature have had to bear arms against such man-made-" David paused a moment before actually saying "atrocities," and changed his choice of words. "-artifacts, nature could not have turned stone to trees."

Riko was taken aback momentarily, and silence reigned save for a muted "Thank you" when David handed him a small chunk of meat and some raw roots and vegetables lumped together on a plate. The siblings thanked him as well, though Genevieve stared at her meal a moment before starting on it.

There was a minimum of seasoning – mostly herbs gathered throughout the day – but through careful questioning David had learned the blonde woman greatly preferred strongly spiced foods.

_Sometimes,_ the druid thought idly as he disguised his interest in his companion's "cloak" behind a mask of introspective chewing. _Sometimes__I__wonder__if__Riko__won__'__t__turn__to__dust__one__of__these__days.__He__eats__and__drinks__so__little.__What__an__odd__clasp__…_ The device in question was formed like the thumb-talons of a bat's wings hooked about each other. It was incredibly detailed work, drawing to mind the thought that it might even be organic in nature. _Perhaps__I__'__ll__inquire__as__to__the__craftsman__behind__that__cloak__…__work__such__as__recalls__life__would__certainly__be__pleasant__to-_

His thoughts were interrupted by a distant rumbling from the mountains.

The boy – Trey Hillson – started to full wakefulness, and the Ramothos siblings were upon their feet in an instant.

Up high a brilliant light suddenly began to shine, rotating across the spectrum of colors and back. Its sudden appearance silenced the creatures of the forest that had still been awake or were just awakening to their nocturnal activities. David stood up straight, not quite aware of when he'd taken up his scimitar. For a long minute he squinted at the mountains, his weapon held in a white-knuckled grip.

When at last the light faded, David turned to the fire and made a few quick gestures accompanied by hastily barked words in the druidic tongue. A small volume of water appeared above the campfire and splashed down on it, sending steam billowing upward but extinguishing the already diminished flames. Kicking dirt over what remained of the fire, David glared in the half-elf's direction.

"That flash came from the ruins you purchased my services as a guide for. I thought you'd want to inspect it with plenty of daylight, but it would seem something else is going on."

"It would be best to leave now, I agree," Riko nodded, standing up slowly. His hawk had hopped up to his shoulder a moment previous, and David winced inwardly as its talons dug into the half-elf's shoulder, though Riko didn't react. "Should someone else be there, I would not like for them – in their ignorance – to destroy any of the knowledge those ruins may contain."

With Selune hanging full-bellied in the sky, the night may as well have been dawn or dusk. Her cool light illuminated the border of the forest they'd made camp in, and made it relatively easy for David to find a goat trail up into the rocks. Riko kept close behind, his elven blood contributing to his ability to see the rocks. Trey followed on the half-elf's heels, his natural ungainliness very evident…though it seemed as though he threw himself up the mountain farther than he slid back.

Genevieve and Eric, however, seemed to be unaccustomed to climbing mountains at night. Several times David found himself having to backtrack to assist them, which didn't help his temper much.

Less than an hour later they found themselves standing at the entrance to an old, decrepit stone building. It seemed as though part of the mountain had fallen on it, so David couldn't really guess how much of the structure might remain intact. He glanced over at Riko, who pursed his lips and withdrew a copper coin from his purse. The half-elf whispered a few words over it and the piece of metal immediately began glowing brightly and steadily.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Genevieve demanded loudly, a hand on her brother's arm for support as she caught her breath.

"The duration is limited," Riko answered with surprising calmness, and in a much quieter voice. "And I do not possess so much magical energy that I can squander it needlessly. Please, try to keep your voice low. It would not help in the least if your shouting were to bring hordes of who-knows-what down upon us."

The blonde woman looked like she was about to berate him, but took a deep breath and let it out slowly instead. After several of these exercises she said in a calm, quiet voice, "You're right. I really should know better. I'm just frustrated after all those rocks."

"Understandable," Riko murmured, drawing from beneath his cloak a wicked-looking whip with twisted pieces of sharp metal woven into it. "You're inexperienced. You'll learn the more time you spend out here."

David raised an eyebrow at Riko as though to ask if he were ready, and the half-elf nodded. The druid held out his hand for the coin. Dirian maintained his rearguard position as David took the lead, finding a decision almost immediately upon entry to the building: after a fifteen foot entrance hall it opened into a room half twice as long as it was across, and there they found a narrow corridor to the immediate left and a partially collapsed corridor leading into the far room directly ahead. There were no footprints leading down the left-hand hall beyond that of small rodents, but David chose to check it despite the humanoid footprints leading from the entrance to the far hall.

It took a less than a minute to get to the end and back, but they encountered only locked doors and a completely collapsed hall. Part of the rockslide had collapsed into half of a room…less a room than a closet, really, but there were only a few antiquated vases lying shattered around the room and regular geometric patterns of raised horizontal lines.

They were returning down the hall when a chance meeting occurred. As David took his first step into the room from the hall, two strangers appeared from the collapsed hall to his left, which was the unexplored egress to and from which the footprints led. Both were human and…unusual. The brown-haired one in the lead wore a dark, high-collared coat just shy of floor-length that fastened tightly about his chest and abdomen, but hung loose and moved freely – like opaque gauze – from his waist down. His pants seemed to be of the same material as the coat, but David couldn't be entirely certain because they were hidden by the coat's lower part drifting forward. Four buttons on his chest of differing materials and design seemed intended to convey information of some form, but none of them were recognizable for either nation or religion.

By contrast, the red-headed man a step back and to the side of the long-coated one wore a shirt of fine chain mail and pants the color of wet sand. The undershirt he wore beneath the chain and the trousers appeared to be similar materials as the brunet's coat. His only evident concession to decoration was a necklace bearing a disc, but the stylized device it bore was as alien as the other stranger's buttons. Perhaps badges?

They were one part of the meeting, David's group was another, and the third component came from the goblins momentarily frozen in shock at the entrance. It didn't last long, and the goblins began streaming in with their weapons at the ready and their ugly voices crying bloody murder.

The red-head was the first to react, drawing a blade from behind his back and stepping in front of his companion. Something was wrong with the weapon, though…it possessed a faint luminescent quality, and seemed translucent.

Cursing at the ludicrous nature of the situation David rushed in to battle the pesky little critters with a barked order to attack them directed at Dirian. The half-elf was shouldered to the side as the large wolf joined the fray, and the goblins cried out at the sight of the animal taking the first kill.

Riko snapped a single word in some arcane language that rang with power as it sent a goblin in the back to its knees, clutching its head and screeching its pain for all the world to hear.

The goblins decided that the two strangers who'd done nothing as yet were the easiest, though David quickly learned that was quite untrue. As the first goblin got in range to strike the brunet with its pitted sword, the human narrowed his eyes, which flashed with released power and an almost palpable wave of _something_ burst away from him. The four closest goblins fell to the ground, cowering before him and clutching their bodies as though mortally wounded, though David couldn't see any such injuries. All the other little humanoids stared at him hesitantly. Even Dirian stopped.

The brunet glanced at his companion, and the redhead moved swiftly to disarm the cowering goblins. Another look once the subservient possessed their swords made him stand up straight and clear his throat.

"My lord wishes it known that he advises against conflict. This structure is not stable, and so any conflict may result in all of us paying a heavy price for a few moments of hot blood."

David and his companions looked at one another, before cautiously pulling back their weapons. The goblins did the same, pulling back into a group, dragging the fallen bodies of their comrades with them.

The brunet stepped forward quickly and laid a hand on the one Dirian had attacked. Brilliant blue-white light flared from its injuries, signatory of healing magic.

_He__must__be__powerful__to__no__longer__require__words__or__gestures__for__his__spells,_ David thought to himself, his eyes narrowed at the brunet. _If__he__'__s__any__older__than__I,__I__'__ll__gnaw__on__bark__for__a__week,__though._

The human reached for the goblin that had succumbed to Riko's word of power, but after checking for a pulse he shook his head sorrowfully. As he stood up David caught a glimpse of something glistening beneath his hair, grown shoulder-length and swept back. He backed away swiftly, watching the goblins carefully while his companion watched David's group. His expression was one of curiosity, as though he'd never seen goblins before.

After a few moments of silence one of the goblins stepped forward.

"You okay," the beast declared at last. "You save Blackthumb tribe with words."

"My lord gives thanks for your kind words," the redhead stated calmly. "We wish no conflict with you or your people. We thank you for your willingness toward peaceful relations." After the goblin stared at him in confusion, the armored man amended his words. "Your desire to be nice, I mean. My lord sometimes uses words too fancy for others who haven't spent such a large amount of time in school as he has." The redhead gave the brunet man a quick, amused glance, but dropped his gaze quickly.

_Who__are__these__people?_ David frowned, easing his scimitar into its sheath. _What__better__way__to__find__out__than__to__ask?_"Who are you?"

"Alex Moreydor," the redhead answered, eyeing David. "Your name is…?"

"David Vixni," the druid replied. "Your friend – your 'lord' – his name is what?"

"Liam Faren, of House Daerlin." This time it was the brunet who had answered. The accent Alex possessed was far thicker in his voice, and his words were much more hesitant. It was almost as though he gave each one a moment of consideration before uttering it. "I am unfamiliar with this mode of communication. Forgiveness is requested forward of time in due case that I may offend."

"He apologizes in advance if anything he says is offensive," Alex translated at the first sign of puzzled expressions. Liam turned to the lead goblin, who'd been getting a little agitated at supposedly being ignored.

"What is your name being that I may request?"

"Ficktar Blackthumb. This my tribe!" The goblin leader declared proudly, gesturing at his party. David permitted a sigh.

"Surely not all or the reproduction of which is in future to be stunted." David's eyes widened at the audacity of the newcomer, aforementioned apology or not. Such concepts were not to be inferred. "Therefore it is a correction that this perhaps is the scout aspect of your tribe, and females and offspring are elsewhere. I do not wish to know where, for in knowing you are separate I determine that it is a secret you do not wish to share for chance I may be dishonest."

"He means that he knows this isn't your entire tribe," Alex interjected before the goblin could get any more confused. "And he doesn't want to know where the rest is, because he knows that you would not trust the reasons he gives."

"So you are a peacemaker, then?" Genevieve asked, stepping forward. She had removed from beneath her blouse a necklace upon which hung the symbol of Lathander: a sun breaking over the horizon. She toyed with it idly, as though it were of no consequence. Evidently she'd arrived at the same conclusion David was just coming to.

These people were not from the area…or if they were, they were even more cloistered than the Ramothos siblings had been.

"In the perspective of mine is peace much better than conflict," Liam paused for a moment. "Is this linguistic example proper or overmuch filled with extraneous data?" The redhead looked at his lord for a brief moment, after which Liam nodded. "I will try." He looked at Genevieve. "I prefer peace. It is the least waste of resources." The brunet's eyes flicked to Eric and Riko. "I have not heard your names as yet. May I hear them?"

"I am Riko Knight, of the House of Knight," the half-elf bowed with a flourish. "Something of an irony, considering my arcane talents."

"I am Eric Ramothos the Third," the blond man declared, inclining his head ever so slightly. "This is my sister, Genevieve." He placed a hand on the petite woman's shoulder. She gave him a withering look, and Eric flinched back.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," the blonde woman stated diplomatically, curtsying slightly. Liam bowed in return, then turned his attention back to Ficktar.

"Would you mind if we explored a bit?" He asked, polite as anything. He still spoke as though each word was a separate paragraph unto itself, though. The goblin leader rolled the idea around in his head – to David's eyes, seeming at times to literally be trying to watch it – before finally answering.

"Fine. But you no take nothin' that be ours."

"I assure you," Alex said smoothly. "We will take nothing that is yours."

"Good enough." Ficktar spat out a couple phrases in the goblin language, and one of his stronger-seeming warriors stepped up. "Riglath volunteer to watch you. He ugliest goblin today."

"I would like to accompany you," Riko stepped up to Liam, though Alex moved quickly to stand between them. The half-elf noted this and dismissed the action, but did take a half-step back. "I was on my way here to study these ruins. There is much lore that could be recovered."

"Or it may be rumor." Liam allowed his lips to curve into a smile before smoothing his face back into what David was quickly coming to realize was a carefully composed mask. "I would be interested in learning the source of this theory." The three humanoids and the goblin walked off down the dead-end corridor, stopping at the first locked door they'd originally come across.

David and Ficktar watched each other carefully as they listened to the exchange. They recognized each other quite well, having consistent contact uncommon between humans and goblins. What relationship there was tended to be expressed in pranks, such as the goblins would tie each bone of a recent kill to a different tree, and in return David would tie the same bones to the goblins while they slept. Occasionally, David felt they were closer to being true friends than actual enemies, though it was hard to tell with Ficktar.

"I have it on very good authority that the last person to explore these ruins returned a gibbering madman, babbling about a code he couldn't decipher."

"That's not surprising," Alex commented. "The script was probably trapped, though it was likely so old that it failed after it was sprung the one time."

"Supposedly there have been others, but they are lost to the mists of time."

"Poor records reveal a willingness to let pass that which is unattractive to recollection," Liam murmured. "This was a storage facility. The door is non-responsive. It will not open without severe damage to its structure, which I do not recommend, given the poor integrity of the building's structure. It is a surprise it has held up this long."

"He's certainly a quick study," Genevieve whispered in a voice almost bereft of sound. "I suppose we're doing nothing until they return?"

"I imagine so," David commented. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I want to see for myself how badly the building is damaged." He left the building at a brisk walk without waiting for either sibling's answer, though he did leave them the lit coin. Trey took it, and began to circle around the room.

As he'd known, Ficktar waited outside, having taken a rear entrance.

"You're being particularly sneaky today," David stated, leaning against the wall. "You're also much farther north than you're supposed to be. Are you up to something I should be aware of?"

"We are having issues," Ficktar replied, his formerly idiotic manner of speaking giving way to one significantly more educated. He stood up straighter and settled a pair of spectacles on his face, sighing with relief when he could see David clearly. "We've been pushed north by human and half-orc bandits. The irony of this is not lost on me, nor even on some of my constituents, though I believe they think the exact term has to do with metal."

"It's not hard to see why. Your kind is not generally given the opportunity to focus their attention on their mental faculties. What are you asking me to do about the bandits?"

"I would appreciate you putting the fear of Silvanus into them, but barring that I would rather see them all dead, their leader especially."

"Oh? Did you happen to catch his name in all the fleeing?"

"Torrus, though he also answers to Kiren." Ficktar stopped, eyeing David's stiffened expression. "You know him, then?"

"We've met. I'd have thought the last warning I'd given him would have sufficed."

"The ear?"

"The ear." David confirmed. "I caught him poaching. I don't mind wise hunting, as your tribe engages in. What becomes distasteful is the wholesale slaughter of animals for a single component of their bodies." He grinned savagely as he recalled the encounter. "I told him that if he came into my territory again causing trouble, there would be hell to pay. Do you know where he was last holed up?"

"Our caves, and it looked like he was settling last I saw."

"How long ago would you put it at?"

"Three weeks, or however it is you humans measure twenty-one days."

"Two tendays and one," David replied absently, staring to the south. There wasn't much to see, being as his view was blocked with a mountain, but that didn't stop his memory from detailing the landscape. "What do you want as proof of his death? Literally, his head?"

"That'll do. As payment you may keep whatever you find amongst them. I don't particularly care for anything they've had their hands on, but it will bring me great satisfaction to mount his head on my wall that I may see it every time I wake."

"I don't recommend it. The thing would rot and the stench would be worse than anything you could concoct on your own."

"True, but permit me a few moments of gleeful exaggeration, would you?" Ficktar scowled. "He took my wife. I would avenge her myself but I must keep the good of the tribe ever at the forefront of my mind."

"A week there, a week back, and a few days in between," David estimated, using the goblin's terminology. "Would that suffice?"

"For speed of service? You could take a month if you wished. I want his head before the season is out, otherwise I may need to make funeral arrangements."

"I'm a druid, Ficktar. We don't do funerals."

"Yes, yes, then at the least we can bring you back here where you can rot in peace. I'll take my people and go now. Tell them they can have the ruins and all the associated dust. Be careful of that Liam person. His magic is of the mind, and as such he requires neither motion nor words, so be very wary of dealing with him. He may manipulate you and you'd never know. Good day, David."

"Night, Ficktar. The sun has set several hours hence." The goblin leader didn't answer, merely stepping back into the shadows and whatever hidden door he'd used to exit the building in the first place. David waited a few moments to be safe, then spoke in a moderately louder voice than the one he'd used to converse with Ficktar. "Genevieve, you step lightly for a woman of limited experience."

"All novices learned to move quietly when committing their pranks. Lathanderian priests possess a sense of humor, but they are swift to punish when things begin to get out of hand." The small woman stepped around the corner, continuing to toy with her sunrise symbol. "I won't insult your intelligence or mine by wondering aloud how you managed to detect me, and will instead simply decline to wear perfume in the future." She planted her hands on her hips and glared at David. "I was under the impression that you were our guide."

"Riko paid me to guide you here and back, and that is what I will do."

"Then I will alter the terms of that agreement. As soon as he's finished here you're going to guide us to these caves. You will not take on those interlopers alone. Goblins or no, what these bandits have done is despicable."

"What makes you so certain that Riko and Eric are going to agree to this?" David paused a moment. "And what evidence is there to support your assumption that Riko's going to be done in so short a time?"

"Eric goes where I go, and you can just leave the half-elf to me." Genevieve turned and began to walk off. "That Liam character is translating the symbols and Riko's writing it down in a hodgepodge of perhaps a dozen different languages. He claims that the script is called 'Qualith,' and says it's the written form of illithid communication."

A shiver ran up David's spine as the woman turned and left, making no effort to be silent.

Just who are these people?


	3. Chapter 3

I rubbed the spent power stone with my thumb, lamenting the necessary loss of its power for something so banal as quelling a potential conflict.

_Within minutes of stepping into a new world I'm already squandering my resources._

"_It__could__be__worse,__"_ my psicrystal suggested. _"__You__could__be__bereft__of__what__resources__you__possess.__Do__try__to__look__on__the__bright__side,__or__you__'__ll__fall__back__into__that__endless__pit__of__despair__Alex__hauled__you__out__of.__"_

"_You try being torn from your home."_

"_Technically,__I__was.__"_ The response had a certain bite to it that gave me a start. That was a first. _"__On__the__off-chance__that__you__somehow__managed__to__forget,__let__me__reiterate__an__obvious__fact:__I__am__a__fragment__of__your__personality.__I__possess__your__memories,__and__to__a__certain__degree__I__could__be__considered__ '__you,__' __though__I__realize__this__is__not__the__case.__I__'__m__reminded__of__this__every__time__I__see__you.__Even__the__manner__in__which__I__see__is__far__different__from__what__I__ '__remember.__' __It__is__in__this__way__that__I__am__able__to__understand__your__feelings__regarding__the__separation.__I__miss__it__as__much__as__you__do.__I__am,__however,__nothing__if__not__meticulous.__I__have__already__grieved__and__put__it__behind__me.__If__we__are__to__figure__out__a__way__in__which__we__can__return__home__ – __if__it__'__s__even__possible__ – __then__we__must__look__to__the__future.__"_

The damned thing was correct, I was grieving, and likely would for some time. Still…that shouldn't stop me from doing what I could to find a way back.

I resisted the urge to dash the dull shard of crystal to the ground in a fit of pique, instead placing it in one of my uniform's pockets. The person with pointy ears – Riko Knight – babbled on, unconcerned with my actions. He was excitedly transcribing Alex's translation of the Qualith script that ran about the walls of this strange place.

The architecture was completely unlike that of the City, but according to the script it was a storage area and training arena. It was so small, though…a similar locale in the City would have been three or four times as large, at least. Perhaps a Tertiary location? That might make sense, but there were no Portals into their area with an end-destination like this.

I ran my fingers across part of the wall, a "loose" segment of Qualith that I had been adamant about Alex not translating. I wanted to be certain of what it said, as the first time I'd gone over it I had only been paying partial attention.

"All hope is gone. He is loose. We brought him here, raised him to be a solution against the illithids, but he turned against us. We are doomed. The city is doomed. He is no longer mortal. Our experiment has failed."

It cut off abruptly, trailing off as the hand holding the striator – the tool used to write Qualith – had dropped. The last few inches of the script consisted of solid lines of equal length that indicated a lack of coherent thought.

The scribe's death, captured in writing.

With the unknown writer's words in my mind I stepped to the other side of the hall, bypassing Riko and Alex as I moved to the limit of the light.

"_Do__you__sense__anything__ahead?__"_ I asked my psicrystal, whose sense of "sight" was not based on light, but a subtle telekinetic field that fed it information.

"_There's another segment of script, about your shoulder-level and directly ahead of you."_

I followed its advice and walked forward, feeling with my fingers for the wall, and when I reached it they were my eyes as I was directed to the section. Although it wasn't completely dark, there wasn't enough light for me to locate the faint bumps of script.

"To any who survive: You murdered my future and turned me into a freak. Now I'm killing yours."

The emotional component indicated great anger coupled with deep certainty. If this was a message from the man who'd shattered the Gem so easily, then neither emotion was terribly surprising.

On the ground I found the remnants of a striator, broken into pieces but recognizable and remarkably clear of dust, as though it had recently been dropped there. Could portions of my City have somehow been shifted here? It could be possible, but for all the Qualith in the area. This building itself was part of my home, architectural disparity or not. The script was too neatly placed for it to have been transferred. Perhaps a locale outside the City, and often the only ones to venture outside were Tertiaries and Secondaries.

I left the striator where it was and rejoined Riko, who'd moved up the hall, having already received joint affirmation from the both of us that the script was more of the same with only slight differences indicating emotional state.

"Well, I imagine that's everything in this area," the pointy-eared person said, flipping through the pages he'd inked to actually read what he had written. "Come on. With your help these ruins will be translated within hours!"

"_Are__you__certain__we__should__be__sharing__this__information__with__him?__"_ Alex asked me, walking nearby. _"__I__understand__that__there__is__no__danger__in__sharing__it,__but__why__are__you__doing__it?__"_

"_It__is__good__to__make__allies__in__strange,__new__lands,__even__if__just__in__the__form__of__a__single__person,__"_ I answered. _"__If__nothing__else,__he__can__at__least__show__us__a__map.__My__hope__is__that__he__will__show__us__around,__perhaps__assist__us__in__familiarizing__ourselves__with__their__currency,__if__they__possess__it.__"_

"_Even__the__illithids__have__a__barter__system,__"_ my psicrystal added, communicating with Alex only because he had established contact with it. On its own it couldn't yet speak with others. Once I became more powerful it would reap such benefits and be infinitely more useful as a messenger. _"__What__little__history__remains__indicates__that__intelligent__civilizations__require__such__limitations__as__currency__to__dictate__exactly__how__much__an__individual__may__possess,__as__greed__overrides__the__instinct__of__necessity.__"_

That was a regrettably logical conclusion. Many members of the City tended to let their greed take them over. I wasn't immune to it, but then I wasn't old and jaded, either. Perhaps that had something to do with it.

"_Either__way,__"_ I stated with finality. _"__We__require__assistance__to__survive__here.__None__of__us__possesses__the__knowledge__necessary__for__safe__survival.__I__do__not__even__know__if__what__skills__we__do__possess__are__in__demand__here.__"_

"_We__could__always__ask__if__there__'__s__need__for__a__warrior__and__a__…__how__should__I__describe__you?__"_ Alex's words were colored with genuine confusion. _"__I__'__ve__never__actually__thought__about__it,__but__what__term__would__best__fit__what__you__do?__"_

"_I'm a manifester, though I'm not certain if these people would understand the term. What did Riko call himself? A…a sorcerer?"_

Alex rolled his eyes skyward, as though asking for strength from an outside source. Perhaps he was. Religion was never a focal point of my life. _"__Such__archaic__terms.__Associated__with__that__are__the__words__wizard,__mage,__witch,__and__warlock.__We__could__just__refer__to__you__as__a__mage.__Would__that__be__acceptable?__"_

"_It__'__ll__do.__"_ The term wasn't perfect, but until we learned enough to find a more accurate word it would – as Alex said – have to do.

"_Then a warrior and a mage. Isn't there a stereotype regarding that somewhere in the literature?"_

"_If so, then only because it is a useful pairing."_

We picked our way through a caved-in portion of the complex, eventually exiting into the Portal room. It hadn't changed since we'd left, with the exception of significantly more footprints in the dust.

"_Looks__like__the__goblins__left,__"_ Alex observed. _"__Where__did__our__little__guard__go,__anyway?__"_

I looked around, suddenly alert and tense. It was nowhere to be seen, and I hadn't noticed it leaving. Questioning my psicrystal proved that it hadn't, either. It claimed that it had been concentrating on me and my questions, but that was an easy excuse. Considering it possessed the fragment of my personality pertaining to meticulous behavior, perhaps I should consider altering it.

"_They__'__re__sneaky__little__creatures,__"_ I mused, relaxing in minute increments as I directed my psicrystal to focus all of its attention on observation. It released its hold on my hair and climbed atop my head. Riko's tamed bird turned to stare as it heard my psicrystal's movement, prompting the sorcerer to look in the same direction.

"What is that?" Riko asked, eyes fixed on my psicrystal's gemlike appearance.

"A companion," I answered, then explained about it being a fragment.

"Ah, so it is like a familiar," the man bobbed his head in understanding. "Just as Liroc here is a familiar. He becomes my eyes during the day. Hawks have remarkable visual acuity compared to humans, or half-elves like myself. Even full elves cannot boast the same acuity."

"_Elves,__"_ I murmured to Alex, my mental voice low in spite of Riko's inability to eavesdrop. _"__Fairy__tale__creatures,__as__I__recall.__Eternally__youthful__and__utterly__beautiful__to__behold.__"_ I passed a quick glance over Riko's form and added, _"__Perhaps__the__tales__exaggerate__somewhat.__"_

"_He__is__unhealthy,__"_ Alex said gently. _"__His__body__is__sickly.__Perhaps__he__doesn__'__t__eat__enough.__Perhaps__it__is__a__degenerative__disease.__You__know__that__not__every__human__is__equally__physically__attractive__to__you.__Perhaps__he__is__a__poor__example__upon__which__to__base__an__opinion.__"_

"_Fair__enough.__"_ Aloud I answered, "So you can speak with this…hawk?"

"Not just yet. At the moment we merely sense one another's emotions. As I grow in power he will become more intelligent, and we will be able to communicate directly…eventually." After a moment the half-elf added, "His name is Liroc, and his species is red-tailed hawk."

"It is frowned upon to give names to our psicrystals," I paused for a moment, collecting the words and sorting them into grammatically correct structures. "They are fragments of ourselves, pieces of our personality copied into another entity. In many ways it is me, so naming it would give the false indication that it is not me."

"So deceit is frowned upon where you come from?"

"It is viewed with a certain degree of contempt," Alex interjected calmly, as though picking up the thread of conversation naturally, rather than seizing it from me. Perhaps it was a good thing…I might have revealed that with our native manner of communication lies are pointless and easily seen through.

"_The__short__female__is__approaching,__"_ my psicrystal said, allowing me to turn and meet her.

"Hello," she bobbed her head with the respect of one equal to another. _Interesting._

"Hello," I replied, awaiting her next statement.

"…I need to speak with Riko," Genevieve said flatly, stepping around me.

"_Bitch,__"_ my psicrystal observed. I shushed it, accepting that it was my fault for assuming she wished to speak with me. Perhaps I'd balance out its personality with a fragment of my diplomatic aspect.

"Riko," the well-dressed woman startled the half-elf, who blinked at her owlishly. "How long will it take you to complete the translation?"

"It depends on how much of the building is intact," he shrugged. "The previous translation took much less time than I thought. Much of this is repetition. I will know more when we finish scouting the building."

"Does it hold the arcane secrets you sought?"

"Sadly, no…but it's more than interesting enough for my linguistic studies. Imagine: humans that understand illithid script! The benefit our people could reap from simply intelligence-gathering alone is magnificent."

"Maybe they can teach you on the way, if you're planning on joining us, that is," Genevieve stopped, looking at us.

I allowed myself a faint smile. "It would be helpful. We know little about your culture, and so would drown within days of being on our own."

"That'll do. The more the merrier. After you're through with this, Riko," the woman gestured broadly to indicate the building as a whole. "We'll be heading south. We're helping David with a pest control problem. Some bandits are getting out of hand."

"What?" The half-elf almost dropped his writing board, and his bird hissed at Genevieve. "I paid him to lead us here and back to Hlath! Not to go gallivanting about on some ill-conceived adventure!"

"Would you prefer your next shipment of components for experiments gets hijacked and held ransom?" Genevieve asked sweetly. Riko held his writing board in a white-knuckled grip as he growled the word "No." The shorter woman became a lot less sweet. "Then you've a personal interest in their elimination. We leave in the morning, whether you're ready or not."

She walked back into the corridor, and a shadow detached from the wall to follow her. Eric cast a sympathetic glance at Riko before disappearing after his sister.

The half-elf took several deep, calming breaths and simply turned away, facing in the direction of the entryway to the Portal's room. His light went out abruptly, prompting him to murmur a long string of syllables. Illumination flared out from his coin in a bright burst before settling on the same steady glow that had characterized it on our arrival.

"_Interesting,__"_ I commented with my head cocked to the side. _"__It__sounds__as__though__he__utilizes__the__vocal__formula__as__a__focus__to__direct__the__energies.__"_

"_Isn__'__t__that__inefficient?__"_ Alex asked.

"_In__the__usage__of__energy,__certainly.__There__is__no__need__to__move__to__create__an__effect.__However,__I__believe__those__gestures__also__serve__as__a__mnemonic__for__a__greater__number__of__permutations__than__psionics__can__generate.__He__can__make__an__object__to__shine__with__light,__whereas__for__one__of__us__to__generate__a__similar__effect__we__must__use__our__own__eyes__to__emanate__illumination.__"_ I stared at the light as Riko led us farther, musing, _"__I__wonder__if__he__would__be__willing__to__instruct__me__in__the__formula__he__used.__"_

"What is this room?" the half-elf wondered aloud, stepping past the collapsed areas. He turned and froze, staring at the Portal.

"That was our entry point," I offered, looking at the blackened arch. "It no longer functions."

"That's evident. There's quite a bit of damage to the focal crystals…but it's not recent," Riko rubbed his chin, then tossed the coin at me. I fumbled for it, saved from disgrace only because the half-elf was not looking at me. His voice took on an absent-minded but commanding tone. "Keep that light steady."

The sorcerer fussed around the Portal for nearly an hour, making notarized diagrams using very exact measurements. During this period his light dissipated five more times, the other three humans came in or explored the rest of the building, returning with minor relics of the City, in one case coming back with a still-functional child's toy designed as an educational tool to build focus and multitasking capability.

The only times Riko spoke with us were when he needed a translation or needed to refresh the spell of light. Otherwise he ignored us.

"That about does it," the half-elf declared, standing up and stretching. Too-thin arms reached out from his robe's sleeves. "Now, let's see about this nonsense that blonde bitch thinks she's so clever about."

I gave him the coin, but held back while he advanced further, oblivious to our presence.

"_Do__you__think__we__should__go__with__him?__"_ I asked Alex. _"__I__don__'__t__think__he__'__ll__be__able__to__sway__Genevieve,__and__he__will__either__follow__David__or__try__to__pick__his__way__back.__"_

"_He__'__s__probably__smart__enough__to__realize__that__he__'__d__need__David__to__guide__him__home.__I__know__not__the__local__terrain,__but__it__'__s__dangerous__for__one__person__in__the__wilderness.__"_ Alex paused. _"__I__think__we__should__stay__with__them.__It__'__s__safer__for__us.__"_

"I agree," I murmured aloud, concentrating on speaking the words at the same rate as the others spoke. "We should practice speaking at every opportunity. We do not want to appear overly different."

Alex smiled faintly, and we walked after the half-elf.

The argument was short, consisting primarily of Genevieve preying on Riko's greed and pride. With skillful words and well-timed changes in her tone and body language she made the sorcerer admit that he could use the exercise as a way in which he could test and hone his skills. He remained adamant that he was not an adventurer, a term I required clarification on…so I asked Eric.

"Faerun has a lot of adventurers," the blond man answered. "They're…a mixed bag, really. They might come from a particular country, but they might only view that as their origin. They explore, they help those they come across…or in worse cases they take advantage of the weak, helpless, and those unable to resist their will." Eric sighed. "I would like nothing so much as for all the world to be a good place, where evil exists only in the hearts of monsters and rare men…but I know that's not possible. People can be evil all too easily…" He trailed off and was silent for so long that I thought he was done talking, but then he shook himself and looked at me once again. "Are you thinking of becoming an adventurer?"

"This is your land," I spread my hands helplessly. "These are not my people, and I do not understand them. I doubt they could understand me, nor would they welcome me into a community…even were that my goal. I must try and find a way home."

"The best way to do that is by adventuring, I guess," the warrior chuckled. "And what better way to start than by helping us?"

I allowed a small smile and nodded. "That would be helpful, thank you." For a moment I wasn't sure what to do, then turned back and cocked my head curiously. "You trust us fairly easily, it would seem. Is this your nature?"

"In part," Eric grinned. "You seem sincere to me, and one of the gifts of my god tells me you are not one who delights in the suffering of others."

"Is that a measurable quantity?" I asked, frowning slightly. "One's moral standards can be determined in such a manner as an exercise of concentration? I was always given to understand that a person's morality stood as an indescribable and incalculable quantity."

"Evil is a very real force, even if it can only be described as a concept. It's…bitter," the blond man's grin went lopsided. "That's really the best way I can describe the sensation."

"So evil has a flavor?" I wanted to laugh, really…but this man was describing something difficult, and not for the first time I wished he could communicate telepathically. It would ease the transfer of concepts so much.

"And it is bitter." Eric confirmed it sagely, in a rather serious voice. Before long he started chuckling. "Saying that aloud it does sound ridiculous, doesn't it? Anyway, back to the adventuring thing…we can use any assistance you can offer. It will be dangerous, though."

"That is fine. I am prepared to deal with danger."

"As you did with the goblins? It was certainly a good tactic. Do you have any other tricks?"

"I am able to perform lethal maneuvers with my powers. My…I am not certain how to describe his relationship to me, but Alex is a trained soldier."

"That's a decent amount of assistance. Riko looks like he's finishing up now. Oh!" Eric looked around with a surprised expression. "Now where did he run off to? Trey!"

"The structure," I reminded the blond man weakly, glancing up at the ceiling as a trickle of dust drifted down.

"Right, sorry. We have a fifth member of the party, but he's easy to forget about. It's like he's actively pushed out of our minds."

"There is a power I have heard of that produces that effect. Were I able to use it, I could stand before you like this and you would not even see me."

"A good ability for a thief…or an assassin. Have you ever seen it in action?"

"Perhaps," I spread my hands helplessly. "If I have, would I know it?"

Eric chuckled and clapped me on the shoulder. "A wise answer. I'll go look for him. Maybe he went farther in." The man took off, passing Riko and Alex. His walk spoke of personal power, and his manner of quiet faith. Perhaps I would ask about it later, when I knew him better.

I stepped close enough to Alex to let him know I would be just outside the compound, and I would leave my psicrystal here with him, which I would remain in constant contact with. He wasn't too pleased about it, but he accepted my words, and turned back to translate further with only a quiet, _"__Be__careful.__"_

Outside, a breeze carried cool air to my face and made the lower portion of my coat pillow out. I moved to the side and stumbled back when I stepped on flesh.

"Are you alright?" it asked me, resolving into a teenaged boy.

"I am fine. Are you?"

"Bruises fade."

"I humbly apologize. My vision in darkness is insufficient for proper navigation."

"It's alright." There was a moment of silence, before the boy said, "My name's Trey Hillson. Yours is Liam Faren, right?"

"Correct. Of House Daerlin."

"The House name is familiar. Are you related to a woman named Caroline?" My heart jumped into my throat at the name.

"My youngest sister is named Caroline. She would be perhaps three weeks old…or was, when I left."

"Something bad happened to your city," Trey murmured. "She talked about it often. I remember her saying she wished to see something called the 'Gem' again."

"The heart of our city," I breathed out gently, leaning my back against the building and sliding to the ground. I could hear the others moving about inside. "It broke, and I believe the backlash sent Alex and I here, wherever this is. Here, there are stars. There are none back home."

"She never mentioned it. Sakura Hall was the most mentioned, near the end."

"What happened?"

"She died an old woman," Trey replied in an odd voice. Was that…envy? "Age caught up with her."

"How…" I paused to swallow my emotions. "How long ago?"

"About thirty years ago. Not long after my…initiation." I looked at him.

"You cannot possibly be that old."

"I'm older than I look. It's part of the transition into adulthood for my family." He quirked his lips into a bitter smile. "She had a long and fulfilling life helping people."

"What did she do?"

"She was an adventurer. She went around slaying beasts and demons that threatened innocents. She saved many lives."

"She sounds admirable." I breathed in the cool night air, delighting in its refreshing qualities. "Why are you here? You are as incongruous as the blond ones. David led Riko here. The three of you seem afterthoughts."

Trey chuckled. "I'm a journeyman wizard, and this is my journey to become a better arcanist. The Ramothos' are longtime friends of mine, and decided to come and look after me."

"Wizard…is that anything like a sorcerer?"

"It's…" the boy frowned. "We can use the same sorts of spells, but they're cast in a different manner. I use precise formulae while Riko just kind of wings it. My abilities stem from the intellect, and his from his heart. There's also a great deal more education involved in my chosen vocation."

I crossed my arms, my brows drawing together as I considered. "That is similar to our city. There are those whose power is innate, and from there they either develop naturally unstable but powerful abilities, or work toward stable but moderately weaker power. I am neither. My abilities are not innate." I allowed a chuckle to bubble out from my chest. "I have fought hard for every iota of power I have accumulated, and I know there is so much farther to go."

"We are more alike than you knew, then." Trey stood up and shouldered a satchel that had sat unnoticed by his side. Something chirruped and flew at him from the night sky. It landed on his outstretched arm and crawled toward his torso. "This is Azula, my familiar. I'll show her off in the morning, when it's light out."

"_Riko__'__s__finished,__"_ my psicrystal announced suddenly. _"__The__script__is__more__of__the__same.__Basic__combat__techniques__that__even__you__know.__No__more__notes__from__the__Interloper.__A__few__descriptions__of__powers.__Alex__has__already__recovered__a__power__stone.__He__thinks__it__may__be__depleted,__but__is__leaving__it__for__you__to__determine.__"_

"_Thank__you.__"_ Aloud, I said, "Riko has finished his examination."

"Ah, then we'll be getting ready to leave, then. You are coming with us?"

"If that is permitted, I will be."

"Alright." Trey gave his familiar a scratch along its head and turned to walk into the compound. "Azula, did you have a good meal?" The creature chirruped and crawled into his tunic.

These were very strange people, to befriend all manner of beasts. I gathered my wits and followed the young-looking wizard.


End file.
